trinacriabob

The Accord has become ungainly and bloated. Between the two of them, I think the Camry is nicer, even though they should do something about its grille.

When it rains, it pours ... within 5 minutes at each other, and on the same major street, 2 very cool older Buicks. Here's a '76 Buick Regal S/R. The badging is gone and modified (the S/R badge is gone and a 350 badge was added where they used to put a V6 badge, but this was a V8.) The guy (in the car) told me he picked it up for between $3K and $4K. That is amazing. I pulled out my phone and explained to him that S/Rs were fairly rare and Buick's late answer to the upscale Cutlasses with buckets of those same years. He didn't know about the S/R designation, but knew of Salon and Calais trims for Olds. When they took the Regal from horizontal to "baby Eldorado" tail lamp treatment, it took the appeal of this coupe way, way up. I asked him if I could take photos. He was cool with it. The Superman floor mats have to go, but check out the trestle shifter on the console. We will never see these kinds of automotive interiors again. Sad. Then, a few blocks away, I see this. A '91 or '92 Riviera. This was the best color for it, IMO, and for its sibling, the Toronado. Olds called it Light Driftwood Metallic. Either car looked great in it, provided it had alloy wheels and not wire wheel covers. I'm probably partial to the Toro. With this rear pillar and the rounder rear fenders, along with the notchback rear window and long trunk, this run of Rivieras was unmistakable. As the Riviera downsized, so did its "Parthenon" grille. Amazing sights, within just 5 minutes.

Bingo. Ditto. For the most part. My parents believed in spending a little more, not a ton more, to get quality and make things last. I had to be cheap to be able to go back to grad school and change course. It changed how I view spending money. My last car went 16 years, but in a moderate climate, though. My current one is up to 12 and then some. The only "vice" I have is travel, and I'm cheap there, too, checking and rechecking the web for airfares, lodging, rental cars, and frequent flyer account promotions that rack up miles for things you'd have to pay for anyway on a trip.

Again, if I was rich, I'd probably opt for the very latest mid-engine Corvette in silver with the maroon leather seats ... and drive it on the weekend as a hobby or novelty car. But, since I can't, I mentally scour cars and the literature, live in them vicariously through rentals, and then return to my steadfast though not necessarily boring car that people don't notice. I take that back. The only people who have noticed my previous cars were gang bangers because, when the Cutlass Supremes and Regals get older, it was gang bangers who adopted those "old schoolz," as they call them. @David Yes, with thorough maintenance, my previous car hit almost 275,000 miles without ANY work on the powertrain. Could it have been that I was taught to do break-in oil at about 1,000 or 1,500 miles before going onto the conventional schedule of oil changes? I've latched on to that old school mentality about break-in oil.

Right around '74 or '75, there was a really cool blue color that the Vega had. It was an enamel color, not a metallic one. A family friend had bought one. I remember riding in it up in the Los Padres National Forest north of L.A. Who would have thought that Vega engines were prone to meltdowns ... literally?

I guess I'm the exception here. I don't want super expensive iron because it costs more in every way - to purchase, to insure, to feed, to repair. And, it's probably extra traumatic when you get a door ding. Very expensive and exotic cars are for those who are ridiculously rich and those for whom they are "must have" items. I guess my maximum "allowance" for a car is adjusted each year for current purchasing power. I look for a car that both appeals to me, since I don't care what others think, and is durable. (I got flack for driving GM cars in CA when I was in college and right after it while in the workforce in that same area, as in "eww," but expressed middle finger sentiments to critics in a more roundabout way.) Right now, I'd say my top end for a (new) vehicle would be about $ 29 K.

You make sense to me. It's too big of a paradigm shift for people who are used to cars and want no more than cars. I see Ford Fusions everywhere and I think KIa Fortes are probably very reliable. We know the Asians and Europeans will not exit the car market. Also, with each refresh, these little Asian cars have gotten a little bit bigger (more comfortable) and feature more advanced technology, such as forward collision alert and avoid.

urine

Angel's Flight (the clothing, not the funicular)

Me like. Sort of. For the memories. What year is this one? I remember when they had an upline Ghia version and they'd outfit it in silver, with a padded silver landau or full vinyl top, and somewhat potent burgundy velour bucket seats, so it was a small coupe functioning as a pimp mobile that people mistakenly thought was luxurious. And, yes, with an ornery 2.3 inline 4, IIRC, that pinged up a storm. Found it. Silver on silver, burgundy interior and pin stripes Yikes! However, there is a full gauge package. (I liked it when the gauge package was over to the right.) And also a digital clock. (Nice feature ... until they gave up the ghost.) For a while, people really liked these little turds until their reliability, or lack thereof, was better understood.

Very true about colleges. Just because it's 1.5x tougher to get into, does it mean it's 1.5x tougher in its equivalent courses and to get through? Probably not. What will happen at the more prestigious schools is that more students, percentage wise, will produce better work - tests, research, papers, assignments, etc. - so there will be higher grades on transcripts across the board. I have a friend who is a civil engineer in CA who went to one of the flagship state universities in the Mountain West. He said, "We used the same textbooks that they did at Berkeley." I thought, "Bronze plate that one." He commuted from home to his university. He couldn't do that with Berkeley. And this guy is super smart.

Isn't it amazing how some types of journalism gel with you while others do not? Either way, you couldn't get the major automotive magazines out of my hands by the time I started high school. My parents didn't like that. They felt I should study more. For not having studied much at all, pulling an A minus average at a Catholic high school and not getting into trouble wasn't all that bad. The only problem was that the very best colleges would have laughed at my application and used it as toilet paper.

Hipster !

This is much like a buffet. Only once or twice a month, max., is doable. But I get it.

I qualify under all 4 criteria, with never fake and telling it like it is especially striking a chord. - - - - - Okay, while it will never be BREAD 8, this image I saw shows that yet another Californian has a wicked sense of humor:

The 400 was born by then? Interesting. Someone who saw the photos did say '67.

I haven't been able to get into this most recent Sonata ... mentally. It's mostly the styling, from the derivative front end to the rear tail lamps that also remind of me of something else. A lot of odd angles. It's like Hyundai was trying too hard. "No, thanks" to this car for me. The interior is more appealing than the exterior. The fit and finish is good. The console is too high for my taste. The slot in the center stack is larger than before, and than in many similar cars. Having a more useful cubby hole there is a good thing. I happened to be looking at Hyundais on a lot this weekend and the base model stickers out at $ 24 K. The $ 34 K ones on the lot (like this one) had the panoramic roof. An increase of $ 10 K is a tough pill to swallow for the same platform, even with all the upgrades.

I probably qualify, but rarely got into trouble. More often than not, it tends to be middle and last born kids. For me, I think it was mostly about attitude. - - - - - Also spotted this weekend ... this was just a regular restaurant serving a happy hour on its patio, and someone obviously decided to drive their classic Pontiac GTO (426, 429, not sure) to it. The front end treatment is suggestive of the big Bonneville Thinking back, this roof line was sleek compared to the more stout '65s A signature on the hood to remind you it's a Pontiac. Pull tabs, so no A/C. No electric gizmos. Blue! Don't know the name for this finned back lite treatment, but it was unique to the GM mid-sizes of this run of a few MYs. Great tail lamps. Horizontal makes the car look sportier, IMHO. Possibly Grand Prix related, in a way. This was a pleasant surprise.

Spotted on 9/11/2020. I guess this accessory exists, but it's the first time I've seen it. The owner saw me taking a photo and laughed.

I haven't forgotten when the Seattle area hit 114 F one summer. I was not living there when it happened. But that statistic, being at the 47th parallel, is something that I still remember. When it comes to AZ, the auditorium at ASU has that Jetsons look. Theme building at LAX, too. When I was a kid, we'd go up on that observation platform and watch 747s take off and land.

Which "famous" family lived in this apartment or condo tower? Three guesses and the first two don't count. Amazing how much the look of this type of building was replicated in warmer places (CA, NV, AZ, and FL) during the '60s and early '70s. This family was therefore a trendsetter, too.

This is the one of the goofiest songs around. Picture yourself in a lava lamp shop with this as background music. The icing on the cake is the lady saying random things in Spanish in the background. I think that asking students to decipher what she is saying, assuming you can hear her more clearly, would make for a good extra credit question on a Spanish 102 exam.

I'm laughing with rather than at. Had it not been for that color, I wouldn't have photographed it because these old schools propped up high are around here and there. But this person spent some coin to paint that car and put on those tires and wheels. I'm with you on the flooding. It will cross intersections that are under water with NO problem, just like the wearer of these pants. That song, and band, were good. And yes to that Caprice. Though it would be much sweeter and more economical in purist form and with a small 4.3 V8. (I did not bother to ask anyone hanging around which engine it had since I was making a 3 point turn.)

Two posts in one: 1) A random thought, since I saw this about 5 years ago in the Sunshine State and had to take a photo (I can't imagine the ride being as smooth as it could be with this set up) 2) What are you listening to? This.

I had just been reading the admin staff review on the newer Volvo sedan and I saw one right after that. Here it is. It's fairly safe looking. I like the rear fascia fairly well. I saw those frumpy, old school a/c vents (and knobs) inside. If Volvos were anything like they used to be, or were reputed to be, it should feel like a bank vault and last a good long while.